SUMMER Summer summer..........

Quickly dwindling away...I really was so sad thinking about all the things I'll be leaving behind once school starts again. So many new changes awaiting me...new place to live, new ward, new classes, new schedule, new job (hopefully). It will surely be a new adventure, but I'm not sure I'm ready for summer to be over already. But alas, time has no mercy and unflinchingly marches on...on and on and on at a quicker and quicker pace. I always feel like I'm breathlessly trying to catch up, but to no avail. I look back at this summer and wonder what I've done with it. It's gone by so quickly I can't even seem to recall what exactly has happened these summer months.

Although one thing I'll remember about this summer is this: FUN! This has quite possibly been the best summer of my life. Instead of only work work work, I also played played played! I actually seemed to keep myself quite busy as well doing fairly productive things. I made some goals for myself for this summer, though unfortunately, I only acheived a few of them. I was quite determined to do all of them at the beginning, but like usual, by the 3rd week of summer my motivation was lacking. At least I did complete a few, right?

Goals for Summer 2009:
1. Exercise 5x a week- FAIL. Big fat failure I was this summer...I blame it on my early work schedule. What? You don't expect me to get up at 4 am to get my work out in, do you? And of course since I work so early, I am too tired so I need my daily 2 hr nap. And if I work out after I wake up, how am I supposed to have time to actually have fun if I still need to WORK OUT, right?
2. Go to the temple every week- YES!! Well, except for one week. I still feel bad about skipping that once...but I have been going every week since the end of April! This has truly changed my life I tell you. I really think this has been the reason why I've had the best summer of my life!
3. Read 5 books- Yes yes yes. Read a couple of good books. Not just mindless reading, mind you. Two particular books I especially want to mention are the ones I read by Sheri Dew- No One Can Take Your Place and No Doubt About It. Although they are directed at women, they were both incredibly inspiring books that helped me see my potential and that we were all sent here to earth at this time for a purpose with a specific mission to fulfill. Yes, it made me feel special, but also helped me see the difference I can make in this world and gave me motivation to work harder, try harder to be what the Lord expects me to be. I highly recommend her books!
4. Learn 2 new piano pieces- erm...not so much. I did finish learning one piece (Claire de Lune by Debussy), but it is by far from perfection. I can play it all the way through, but that's basically it. I have pretty much sucked at practicing this summer...or for the past 2 years...
5. Learn to cook 5 new things- Success! I learned to make chocolate truffles (heavenly...so easy to make too), chocolate hazelnut biscotti's, orange cranberry scones, and a few Chinese dishes.
6. Volunteer somewhere once a week- Not so much...Does doing baptisms for the dead weekly count?
7. Find a class I'm interested in and go to the lectures- another failure. I got too lazy...

I think that was it for my goals...3 1/2 out of 7 isn't too shabby, right? Alright, 50%= FAIL but just let me believe otherwise and life is good.